The Cycling BC Provincial team consisting of U17/Cadet and U19/Junior riders from Cycling BC’s high-performance program were in Baie Saint-Paul, Quebec for the 2021 Canadian National Mountain Bike XCO Championships from September 24th – 26th.
Race weekend got off to a fantastic start for the Cycling BC team starting with the U17 and U19 races on Friday. Sixteen-year-old Marin Lowe from Garibaldi Highlands came away with the U17 Women’s national championship title with a 1st-place finish ahead of Team Ontario’s Ava Holmgren in 2nd and her sister Isabella Holmgren in 3rd. Marin adds the 2021 Canadian National title to her 2021 Provincial Championship title which she won less than a week before the national championships. Cycling BC’s other U17 women finished in the Top 7 with Cumberland’s Sarah Roberts placing 5th, Geza Rodgers of Port Moody in 6th, and Madeleine Pollock of North Vancouver in 7th.
In the Junior men’s race, Lief Rodgers of Port Moody finished in 2nd place ahead of Zorak Paille in 3rd and behind Ontario’s Owen Clark in 1st. Meanwhile, Cycling BC U17 riders Noah Rubuliak of Kelowna finished 9th, Jasper Fleming from Garibaldi Highlands in 13th, and Tristan Drews from Victoria in 30th. This year’s U17 BC Provincial XC Champion, Cam McCallum of Langley, BC, raced nationals as an independent and came in 2nd place.
BC riders in other categories included Comox, BC’s Emilly Johnston who won the national championship title for U23 Women and Coquitlam’s Sandra Walter finished 3rd in the Elite Women’s race along with Kamloops’ Catharine Pendrel in 4th. Peter Disera of Victoria came in 5th and Carter Nieuwesteeg from Fernie came in 13th in Elite Men’s race.
There were only two riders representing BC in the Master categories on the final day of competition; Cycling BC’s mountain bike coach, Joel Harwood, got in on the action and finished 12th overall in Masters Men (35-44) and Cycling BC’s High Performance Manager, Tara Mowat, pulled out a 4th place finish in the Masters Women (35-44) race.
Sandra Walter also made history this weekend by becoming Canada’s first Elite Women’s Short Track (XCC) champion which was a new event added to to the national championships for 2021.
Congratulations to all the BC riders at this year’s Canadian National XCO Championships.
See links to full results below.